JTAC now called TECA (Tribal Equitable Compensation Act).
And also in our language teca means
“new”.
TECA ordinance was created and passed by council. This law is the “plan” for TECA dollars..
however its not actually a plan but a process.
What it does is sets up a process of how the money will be accessed and
spent. Basically, a funding window is
announced by the TECA office usually this window would be for 3 month
period. Within this time folks could
submit proposals projects to be funded by TECA $. Proposals would be submitted to the TECA office,
then to the TECA Board, then to the Council for approval. I think this is a good process.. it is better than Council just spending TECA
anytime for anything.
1st Round of TECA Proposals approved by Council. Within the Law, Council made themselves the
TECA Board until September 31, 2012. So
we were the Board.. I didn’t support
this action. Council has the power now
they have all the Money. However, Sept
31st 2012 is passed and advertising is ongoing for the 6 member
Board (1 from ea District) will need to be filled. So far one person applied. For this initial draw, Council found a loop
hole, within TECA law and made the application window open for only 30 days
(instead of 90). Likely this short of
time made it more difficult for the communities to apply for TECA monies. Because of this limited time frame, it made
it difficult for the TECA office to conduct grant TRAININGS for the communities.
Anyway here is what the some of the millions will be spent on:
Tribal
Education Department $3,462,322.00 Fund
3. This includes $ for
scholarships for college students. ALL full
time tribal member students are eligible for the scholarships. The Higher Education office will handle these
new scholarships.
Property
& Supply Housing Repairs $1,142,874.00
Fund 2. Tribal members
whose homes were damage during the storms (Ice Storm 2010, Storm 2011) or folks
that just need help with getting repairs for their homes. The elderly and folks that have been
requesting assistance will get help. If
you need assistance apply at the Property & Supply office.
Medicine
Wheel Village $1,677,000.00 Fund 3.
The nursing home has been idle for years now. And they are currently working on getting the
building done. See the report I posted earlier.
Solid
Waste Landfill $1,906,424.00 Fund 2
Infrastructure. The majority
of the funds will be used to purchase new equipment and trucks for garbage pick
up. As you may have noticed our tribal
garbage service is in dire need of new equipment. So this will help in garbage removal.
Giving
Back Community Grants $1,050,000.00 Fund 3. This project would allocate $50,000 to each
of the tribal communities for development. Of course the money amount doesn’t
make sense when compared using population.
East Eagle Butte community has thousands of tribal citizens. And Blackfoot has a couple hundred. But this money is for the community help in
getting them organized so next funding round can submit their own proposal for
their own community.
Lakota
Thrifty Mart 10,800,000.00 Fund 1
Economic Development. This is
a large amount of $ but it’ll get spread out over 3-5 years. It includes Convince Store projects in Cherry
Creek and LaPlant. Also includes funding
for the LTM Dupree store. Lastly, the
new LTM for Eagle Butte! This new store
will likely go north of the powwow grounds along highway 212 (Leistmiester
land). All these projects will create
jobs (construction to store clerk) for the folks.
Mni
Waste New Waterline $16,000,000. Fund 2 Infrastructure. Mni Wichoni –
Water is life. For us that means a lot
and is the truth here on Cheyenne River.
The Tribal Member user owned, Mni Waste Water Company, has been approved
for funding thru USDA RD for a Grant 75%/Loan 25%. The Mni Waste needed to come up with the 25%
before any further consideration. So now
if everything goes as planned they will begin water construction in the Spring
2013. New Housing and new business can go up. We Shall Endure. Aho!
There are couple of projects that await Council’s
approval. They are noted in the
attachment, not yet funded/approved. The
projects were disapproved but brought back through the appeals process..
projects are tribal member Land Purchase & Sustainable Housing.
The rest of the Funds and Projects are listed below see
attachment below:
